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Wednesday, Sep 04, 2019 02:21 PM

Week 1 opponent: What the Cardinals are saying

Tim Twentyman

Senior Writer

Every week during the regular season we get an opportunity to talk with the opposing head coach via conference call. This week it was Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury. I also scanned the Arizona media websites and the Cardinals website to see what else the Cardinals players and coaches are saying about this week's matchup with the Lions.

Here's what they had to say:

1. Asked what jumped out about Detroit's defense when preparing this week, Kingsbury didn't hesitate to call Detroit's defensive front one of the best in football.

Kingsbury is also a fan of Lions cornerback Darius Slay, who he called one of the best corners in the game. Kingsbury said Detroit can put Slay on any receiver and really take them out of the game.

"I think Matt (Patricia) does a tremendous job, so does coach (Paul) Pasqualoni, of really adjusting to your offense and taking away what you do best and taking away your best players," Kingsbury said. "It'll be a huge challenge for us."

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"I think, man, Kyler gets a lot of attention from the media and from the outside world just in terms of, obviously, he's very mobile," running back Chase Edmonds told ESPN.com. "Obviously, he's a dynamic quarterback. He can change just the whole style of a team's offense when he scrambles, but I think it overshadows just how accurate he truly is and just how calm he's able to stay under pressure when you look at his footwork when guys are approaching him or how he's so quickly able to just settle back and get an accurate throw going on."

3. Speaking of Murray, Kingsbury knows there's going to be ups and down when starting a rookie quarterback, but the biggest thing he's tried to communicate to his rookie signal caller is to just play loose and cut it loose. Part of Kingsbury's message to Murray has been that he doesn't have to win or lose the game on his own.

4. The Cardinals will be down their two top cornerbacks in Patrick Peterson (suspension) and Robert Alford (broken leg). That means Murray won't be the only rookie starter Sunday vs. Detroit. Byron Murphy is also slated to make his NFL debut at one of the cornerback spots. Kingsbury likes the way Murphy's been developing, but knows there are going to be "bumps in the road" along the way. Kingsbury acknowledged that Sunday will be a big challenge for Murphy facing a veteran and talented Detroit receiving corps.

5. The Lions signed former Cardinals quarterback Chad Kanoff to the practice squad Wednesday. Kanoff signed with Arizona as an undrafted free agent out of Princeton and played behind Murray all of training camp.

Asked Wednesday what Kanoff can reveal about the Cardinals' offense, Kingsbury said, "Pretty much everything."

"Whatever he says is exactly what we're going to run in the game. That's tough for us," Kingsbury joked.

"I think that has been overplayed in that there's 10 years of play-calling body of work that you can draw from, and so regardless of the level, there's plenty of film out there that, just like I really don't know what they're going to run defensively based upon last year's film. They've had all summer to tweak and change, and we've had the same. I think that's been overblown a little bit, but it's all part of the gamesmanship."

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